When
Weaving Flourished, The Silk Industry in
Amstedam and Haarlem 1585-1750, by
Sjoujke Colenbrander, Aronson Publishers
2013 - 240 pages, 95 color illustrations, in
english, 10,5 x 8,2 x 0,7 inches -
ISBN-10 : 949078205X - ISBN-13 : 978-9490782054 -
: Primavera
Press, Leiden, at Euro 38.50www.aronsonpublishers.com or the distributor: www.primaverapers.nl
Dr. Sjoukje Colenbrander is an independent
textile historian and leading authority on the
Dutch silk industry. In 2009 she was the first to
receive the Dave Aronson-Prize for her research
into the silk industry in Amsterdam and Haarlem
during the 17th and 18th centuries. In the time of
the Dutch Republic, the towns of Amsterdam and
Haarlem were the centre of a flourishing silk
industry. This little known area of the Dutch
textile industry has now been thoroughly studied
for the first time. The book not only paints a
fascinating picture of the organization of the
silk weavers workshops, the looms and the fabrics
woven on them, it also offers us a glimpse into
the lives of those involved: the weavers, the
designers of the patterns, and the manufacturers
or fabrikeurs who employed them. One of the
important results of the present research for the
history of textiles is the definitive
identification of a group of silk fabrics with
chinoiserie designs.

Women
at Work in Preindustrial France by Daryl
M. Hafter, published by Pennsylvania
State University Press, 2007,
ISBN 13: 978-0-271-02969-6 - ISBN 10:
0-271-02969-2, 330 pages, in english, 152 x 229
mm, 623 gr, Euro 59.32, £ 46,95, $56.95 - http://www.h-france.net/vol10reviews/vol10no211Hardwick.pdf
The subject of women as skilled workers in the
eighteenth century is central to our
understanding of the history of work and
technology in the preindustrial age. While recent
scholarship has dispelled the notion that women
did not enter the workforce until the Industrial
Revolution, debate continues as to the extent to
which women actually participated in skilled work
in the preceding decades. This book draws upon
substantial archival research in Rouen, Lyon, and
Paris to show that while the vast majority of
working women in eighteenth-century France
labored at unskilled, low-paying jobs, it was not
at all unusual for women to be actively engaged
in economic activities as workers, managers, and
merchants. Some even developed vertically
integrated wholesale and retail businesses, while
others became indispensable to manufacturers
through their technical skill. In fact, Hafter
documents how certain women guild masters were
able to exploit the legal system to achieve
considerable economic independence, power,
wealth, and legal parity with male masters. She
also shows how gender politics complicated the
day-to-day experience of these working women.

An
Early Lace Workbook, by Rosmary
Shepherd, ISBN 978-0-9591235-4-8 - PayPal email
payments, EFT, Cheque and Money Order, Price:
$39.95 AUD + shipping - http://www.lacepressaustralia.com/pubs1.html
In the book there are 21 reconstructions of
surviving 16th and early 17th century lace, and 9
interpretations of lace in paintings. All have
patterns and instructions. Most of the pieces are
easy and interesting to work and because of their
scale they are more than suitable as modern
trimmings.
In 1979 Shepherd was a founding member of the
Australian Lace Guild and held office on many
occasions. She was also active in other arts and
crafts organisations, and in curriculum
development for tertiary textile education. In
1990 she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal
(OAM) for service to the arts, particularly
lacemaking.

new
Book Project: Passion Filz. There
are no registration costs so we advise all
quilters to have a look at the website http://textil-link.de/passionfilz. Ellen Bakker has
already produced two such books on Dutch
felt and textile art. Contact: info@textil-link.de

Textile
Society of America Proceedings
from the 2012 TSA Biennial Symposium, Textiles
and Politicsheld in Washington, D.C.,
are now available through the University of
Nebraska  Lincoln'sDigital Commons.
This is the free and open access
archive of the UN-L Libraries. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/tsaconf/
The submitted manuscripts from the 13th
Biennial Symposium are searchable through the
UN-L Digital site as well as through Google or
Google Scholar. It may be useful to add the
keywords TSA, Textile Society of America and/
or proceedings to your search terms. Providing
open access to our Proceedings furthers TSA's
mandate to exchange and disseminate information
about textiles worldwide. For further information, visit http://textilesocietyofamerica.org/symposia-home/past-symposia/